The 98th Academy Awards, held Sunday night at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and hosted by Conan O’Brien, crowned the leading films and performances of the past year. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another prevailed as Best Picture and led the winners with six trophies, while Ryan Coogler’s Sinners—fresh off a record 16 nominations—claimed four awards. Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor for Sinners and Jessie Buckley earned Best Actress for her role in Hamnet. The evening mixed expected victories with several tight races, producing surprises across acting and technical categories.
Key Takeaways
- One Battle After Another won Best Picture and finished with six Oscars, the most awards of the night.
- Sinners set a new nominations record with 16 nods and converted four into wins, the second-highest haul.
- Paul Thomas Anderson won Best Director for One Battle After Another; Chloé Zhao was nominated for Director for Hamnet, her second nomination in the category.
- Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor for Sinners; Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for Hamnet.
- Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, and Sentimental Value each entered the ceremony with nine nominations; Frankenstein netted three wins.
- KPop Demon Hunters took two awards; single awards went to Sentimental Value, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Hamnet, Weapons, and F1.
- Sinners’ 16 nominations surpassed the previous high of 14, a mark held by All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997) and La La Land (2016).
Background
The 98th Academy Awards arrived after a year of strong festival showings and awards-season momentum for several high-profile titles. Industry buzz centered on two front-runners: One Battle After Another, a sprawling ensemble drama from Paul Thomas Anderson, and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, an epic that drew attention for both its scale and its acting roster. Both films dominated early awards-season ballots and critics’ lists, producing large nomination totals and setting up a likely head-to-head at the Oscars.
The nominations list reflected a mix of established auteurs and rising voices. One Battle After Another received 13 nominations, while Frankenstein, Marty Supreme, and Sentimental Value each picked up nine. Hamnet’s eight nominations highlighted Chloé Zhao’s continued critical standing; Zhao became only the second woman after Jane Campion to earn two Best Director nominations. The slate also included commercially oriented projects—such as Avatar: Fire and Ash and F1—capturing technical awards alongside prestige contenders.
Main Event
The ceremony, hosted at the Dolby Theatre and led by Conan O’Brien, unfolded with a sequence of competitive categories. Best Picture came down to several finalists, with One Battle After Another ultimately taking the top prize and leading the night with six wins. Paul Thomas Anderson accepted the Best Director trophy for the film, underscoring the Academy’s recognition of his long-running body of work and the picture’s expansive achievements.
In the acting races, Jessie Buckley captured Best Actress for her role in Hamnet, a performance many pundits had highlighted as a frontrunner. Michael B. Jordan was awarded Best Actor for his lead turn in Sinners; his earlier season victory at the Actor Awards had been noted as an indicator, but competition remained intense through Oscar night. Supporting awards and craft categories were dispersed among multiple films, with Frankenstein securing three wins and several technical prizes spread across the slate.
Sinners’ record-breaking 16 nominations drew extra attention before and during the ceremony. The film translated several of those nominations into wins—four in total—strengthening Ryan Coogler’s presence in the awards conversation. Other films, including KPop Demon Hunters, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Weapons and F1, each took home single or dual trophies, reinforcing the Academy’s split between narrative prestige and technical excellence.
Analysis & Implications
One Battle After Another’s six awards represent both a critical and institutional endorsement for Paul Thomas Anderson. The film’s balance of technical craft and star-driven performances likely appealed to a broad cross-section of Academy voters, enabling it to convert a high percentage of nominations into wins. That conversion rate matters as much as nomination totals in signaling industry standing going forward.
Sinners’ 16 nominations and four wins show the film’s dual role as a cultural touchstone and awards magnet. Setting a nominations record draws sustained attention, which can translate to box-office bumps, streaming interest and international sales. For Ryan Coogler and the film’s cast, the results reaffirm commercial and critical viability in large-scale storytelling while elevating individual profiles—most notably Michael B. Jordan’s career trajectory.
The distribution of craft and technical awards—spanning Avatar: Fire and Ash, F1 and Weapons—underscores the Academy’s recurring pattern of recognizing blockbuster-level technical achievements alongside smaller, director-driven dramas. This split has implications for studios and producers: ambitious, effects-heavy work continues to earn recognition even when Best Picture contenders dominate headline categories.
Comparison & Data
| Film | Nominations | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| One Battle After Another | 13 | 6 |
| Sinners | 16 | 4 |
| Frankenstein | 9 | 3 |
| Hamnet | 8 | 1 |
| Marty Supreme | 9 | 0 |
The table above highlights how nominations do not map one-to-one to wins: Sinners led nominations with 16 but converted to four wins, while One Battle After Another turned 13 nominations into six trophies. Frankenstein’s three wins from nine nominations indicate strong performance in targeted categories. These ratios are a useful shorthand for how the Academy values different aspects of filmmaking in any given year.
Reactions & Quotes
“This is a humbling honor—thank you to the cast, crew and audiences,”
Paul Thomas Anderson, accepting Best Director
Anderson’s brief remarks emphasized collaboration and the long production journey, framing the film’s success as collective rather than individual. Industry observers noted that the director’s win also reflects a broader respect for established auteurs within the Academy.
“I’m overwhelmed and grateful for this role being seen,”
Jessie Buckley, Best Actress winner
Buckley thanked colleagues and highlighted the emotional demands of Hamnet; critics praised her measured acceptance for resisting grandstanding and focusing on craft. Her victory further cements her status as a leading dramatic performer of her generation.
“To everyone who brought Sinners to life—this is ours,”
Michael B. Jordan, Best Actor winner
Jordan framed his win as a team achievement and acknowledged Sinners’ ensemble. Commentators linked his success to a sustained awards-season narrative, while also noting the broad competition in a stacked Best Actor field.
Unconfirmed
- Whether Sinners’ nominations will produce a post-Oscars box-office or streaming surge is not yet verified by studio release figures.
- Reports that internal Academy bloc voting decided multiple categories have been suggested but lack confirmed evidence from Academy disclosures.
Bottom Line
The 98th Academy Awards balanced expected outcomes with fresh moments: One Battle After Another emerged as the night’s dominant film, while Sinners’ record nominations and multiple wins kept it at the center of awards-season conversation. Acting prizes for Michael B. Jordan and Jessie Buckley reinforced both established and emerging profiles in a competitive year for performers.
Looking ahead, the results will shape awards-season narratives, influence streaming and theatrical interest, and factor into career momentum for winners and nominees alike. For viewers and industry alike, the ceremony reiterated the Academy’s twin impulses: to reward auteur-driven storytelling and to recognize technical excellence in big-budget filmmaking.
Sources
- Vogue (live updates) — media (live coverage of the 98th Academy Awards)
- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — official (event and awards information)